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TUB HEBOID Saturday Religion Terra Cotta Community Centre in difficulty By REV CAMPBELL Minister of Norvallfnlon Presbyterian Churches They say there magic in the first snow of the season Well I wasn looking for magic It was Sunday night and I had a long day I was tired and didn t need this miserable snow storm to have to dnve through I got out of my warm truck and stepped into the white stuff There t a lot of light but what there was reflected softly on the downlike blanket that covered everything It was as if the world had just snuggled into the blackness of night At the door of the little wood frame building all edged in forest green stood in their shirt sleeves and extending a strong handshake said Come on innnnni It made me feel as though I was stepping into a Nor man Rockwell painting He opened the door and before I was completely in the room there it was the magic I mean It was like well like this incredible sense of being home I know that the familiar scent hanging heavy in the air of beef roasting in the kitchen accented with the well known aroma of cof fee warms the human spirit at the worst of times But there was ore to it than just things familiar I knew a few of the people but not many They were all seated ready for dinner when I entered all eyes looked up and everyone smiled I could have been anyone and they would have beamed with a warm welcome I think that what started it the hospitality of the people But there s something about the building too maybe years of peo ple gathering and sharing has soaked into its walls causing a glowing of past warmth Or perhaps the fact that it used to be a church causes it to give off a hint of heavenly things As hard as I try I can t explain it But perhaps it doesn need ex plaining Perhaps it is enough to know that places like this exist Places like the Terra Com Centre where people gather where strangers feel at home It seems to me that at our The trouble with time By JIM IVY AN First Sunday of Advent Mark 13 Dec 1990 TROUBLES WITH TIME Ten years ago was living an old threestorey brick former convent in the downtown area of Detroit called It s a collection of small wooden cottages blocked in by the bridge and 175 on the west the Detroit River to the south and a strip of old and abandoned factories to the east It has been the home for a strong and vital Irish working class community limes have changed of course The Irish have moved out of Cor to the suburbs of Dearborn and Royal Oak The really sue cessful ones the lawyers judges and politicians of Detroit have moved to Grosse another riverside community a few miles east of Corktown where the cot of their grandparents could fit into their new living rooms But even the Grosse Pointers come back to Corktown every year on St Paddy s day to Holy Trinity Church The place where their grand parents were married and their parents were baptized now holds a fund raiser for the current poor of Corktown Hispanic migrants They have a dropin center health clinic and legal aid center Wow this should be something The Rich who recognize their solidarity with the Poor I got dressed up sat shoulder to shoulder with pack ed house of tweed wool and velvet bints inside raincoats I saw church full of men and women who had the same features as my father and my grandmother the same features as my uncles and aunts I felt at home Until the speakers got up It was the worst kind of nostalgia sentimental and self congratulatory Story after story of the old days connections old Irish roots Nothing was said about the cur rent situation of Corktown or Detroit There was no connection made between their grand parents and the current grand parents of WISE I After Holy Trinity I want across town to Last Grand Home It was a relief I had been work ing there for a year These people didn live sen ttmentally in the past I never met people with such an ability to laugh at themselves The men told stones and made jokes the women flirted with me It was a place and a people full of hope Advent is a season for the peo ple of East Grand Nursing Home It s a season for all people who yearn for true pence and justice It s also a season for people who know how to live with time Advent reflects on the first coming of in the past the present absence f the future return of in the Second Coming There is a com memoration of a past event but at all times not just during Ad vent a constant yearning for the final establishment of the Kingdom of Christ NO DAMN GOOD The old charge that Christian ty focusses so much on the next life that they re no damn good in this one is perhaps true for Chris Mans of a partieular time and place but not true The only way to prepare for the life of paradise is to live as if it exists right now That means liv ing in the present have a sense of humour do the little things You could even compare the Christian who lives only for tomorrow with the politician or social climber who only does something because of where it will get them Living with time has never been easy The Early Church had a few problems in this area There was such a he ghtened sense of the return of Christ that some people from one of Paul s churches stopped working They thought Why pay the mortgage or my union dues Why go to work it llallbeoversoon Well Paul said no good That won t work The people on East Grand Blvd in Detroit had learned how to walk the difficult line that leads from the past through the present into the future SOME TIME IN ADVENT The season of Advent started in the fourth century in Gaul In the fifth and sixth centuries it developed into forty days of fasting in preparation for Christmas not unlike the forty days preparation of Lent for the Easter Tnduum In the four weeks of Advent we look ahead to the Second Coming in the first week and then back to the preparation for the first coming of Chnst in the second and third weeks and finally in the fourth week to the first stages of the first coming place in history we are spending a great deal of energy and money on huge structures the Dome where one can help but feel alone in the crowd Places like the Community Cen tre in Terra Cotta are becoming a thing of the past a part of our history Currently this little fellowship is in great financial difficulty due to major repairs I pray that the community of the surrounding area will realize the great need that this centre this gathering place meets for the people of Terra Cotta It is the spiritual centre in an area where there is no church It is a place where God s children come together to share and to learn to love each other Perhaps this Christmas we might find a way to help this tiny community hold on to It s centre it s heart This is what Christmas is really all about isn t if things of the heart Where your treasure It there will your heart be also Matthew VI CHURCH DIRECTORY vuj jii qji NON DENOMINATIONAL PENTECOSTAL CHURCH OF ST ALB AN THE MARTYR Out S3 lUn Ola ALL PEOPLES CHURCH DELIVERANCE CENTRE SW corner Flnchgate Bible Study Worship Deliverance Sunday 10 30 a 7 Wednesday n We Provide Children Church Service English translation Pastor George A LRoy W rUouflUlatMalngta a a WuilMtu CHURCH BOARDS Advertise Your Worship Times With Us Canon at 8772201 THE CORPORATION OF THE Town of Halton Hills H IK Dr O Box HALTON HILLS Georgorown Ontario L7G NOTICE PARKING Parking of a vehicle on any street at any time for longer than three consecutive hours is prohibited by By law On street parking hinders snow clearing operations Your cooperationis requested Please comply with the requirements of this By law AUTHORITIES MAY HAVE VEHICLES TICKETED OR TOWED AWAY AT THE OWNER S EXPENSE SNOW CLEARING Placing or pushing of snow or ice onto streets will obstruct or encumber the roadway and this is prohibited by By law Improper snow and ice clearing can be a serious hazard to motorists Your cooperation is required Please comply the requirements of the By law AUTHORITIES MAY HAVE THE SNOW AND ICE REMOVED AT THE PROPERTY OWNER S EXPENSE YOUR COOPERATION IS NECESSARY TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE WINTER CONTROL MEASURES AND SAFE CONDITIONS R C Austin PEng Town Engineer u 133 Town of Hills